DENVER (Ticker) -- Joe Smith scored 21 points, including four
free throws in the final 85 seconds, as the Minnesota
Timberwolves broke a four-game losing skid with a 105-101
victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Denver's Antonio McDyess forced the fifth tie of the fourth
quarter when he connected on the first of two free throws with
1:27 left to make it 99-99. But Danny Fortson was called for a
loose-ball foul two seconds later and Smith put the Timberwolves
ahead for good with two free throws.

After McDyess missed a short jumper from the left corner, Smith
was fouled by Keon Clark and made both foul shots to push the
lead to 103-99. Nick Van Exel connected on two from the line
with 36 seconds left and the Nuggets decided to play defense
instead of fouling.

With the shot clock winding down, Smith missed a short jumper
but Terrell Brandon grabbed the rebound and gave the ball to
Dennis Scott, who was fouled with 7.7 seconds remaining. Scott
hit both attempts to seal the victory.

"What we did in the last two and a half minutes is we didn't
make any mental mistakes," said Minnesota coach Phil Saunders.
"Dennis Scott was big off the bench for us. Terrell Brandon had
a really good game also. This game was big from a standpoint of
being able to play together more."

Kevin Garnett led the way with 28 points and Brandon contributed
17 and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

"This was just a must-win for us," said Garnett. "Guys stepped
up off the bench. We created a pretty good energy level in the
beginning. We ran our plays like we were supposed to."

Van Exel scored 21 points and dished out 13 assists, Johnny
Taylor added a career-high 21 points and Fortson had 19 and 17
rebounds for Denver, which has dropped nine of its last 10.

"They hit most of their foul shots and we missed some down the
stretch," Nuggets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Overall though,
we just didn't show enough heart. We should've just gone out
and taken the game. We need to be more intense and just take
the game into our hands."

Fortson's three-point play with just over eight minutes
remaining gave the Nuggets an 83-79 advantage. Four points
would be the biggest lead of the fourth quarter for either team.
But Garnett and Brandon drilled consecutive jumpers as the
Timberwolves tied it with 7:29 left.

After a running jumper by Cory Alexander, Smith was fouled by
Taylor while draining a short jumper and hit the ensuing free
throw to put Minnesota on top. Fortson answered with a layup
and Bryant Stith pushed Denver's advantage to 89-86 with an
18-footer.

But Brandon connected on two from the line, and after a slam
dunk by McDyess, Tom Hammonds' 3-point play for Minnesota tied
it 91-91. Denver quickly gained a four-point advantage as Van
Exel and Chauncey Billups each hit a pair of free throws, but
Bill Curley cut the Timberwolves' deficit in half with two foul
shots.

Fortson hit a free throw and Van Exel made two over the next
minute, but Garnett and Scott drilled jumpers for Minnesota. Two
free throws by Curley put the Timberwolves on top before McDyess
tied it from the line.

Scott scored 13 points off the bench and Sam Mitchell added 10
points for Minnesota, which shot 43 percent (34-of-79) and went
36-of-49 from the foul line.

"This was a total team effort," said Brandon. "This gets the
nasty tastes of losing out of our mouths. Everyone contributed.
It may not show up in the statistics but we as players know how
huge contributions are."

McDyess netted 15 points and Billups 14 to give the Nuggets five
players in double figures. Denver shot 43 percent (36-of-84),
including 5-of-17 from beyond the arc, and held a slim 44-43
advantage on the boards.

"I thought we played decent enough to win the game," Stith said.
"We gave them too many opportunities to score without time going
off the clock. We had good looks at the basket, but we went
to the line without time going off the clock so we had to hurry
to score."